The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled a proposal that would let local police make arrests near the state’s border with Mexico will appear on the November ballot for voters to decide.
FILE - A vehicle drives along the U.S. side of the US- Mexico border wall in Nogales, Ariz. on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. PHOENIX — That sets up the biggest push to draw local authorities into immigration enforcement since the state’s landmark 2010 law that required police to question people’s immigration status in certain situations.
If approved by voters, the proposal, known as Proposition 314, would make it a state crime for people to cross the Arizona-Mexico border anywhere except a port of entry, give state and local law enforcement officers the power to arrest violators and let state judges order people to return to their home countries.
It also would make it a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for selling fentanyl that leads to a person’s death and require some government agencies to use a federal database to verify a noncitizen’s eligibility for benefits.Arizona and Missouri join states with abortion amendments on the ballot. What would the measures do?the proposal dealt with the unrelated subjects of immigration enforcement, the fentanyl crisis and the regulation of public benefits.
While federal law already prohibits the unauthorized entry of migrants into the U.S., proponents of the measure say it’s needed because the federal government hasn’t done enough to stop people from crossing illegally over Arizona’s porous border with Mexico. They also said some people who enter Arizona without authorization commit identity theft and take advantage of public benefits.
The questioning requirement was ultimately upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court despite the racial profiling concerns of critics, but courts barred enforcement of other sections of the law.Billeaud is an Associated Press reporter who covers courts and law enforcement in Arizona. He previously covered immigration and the Arizona Legislature.
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